Why Do You Collect Pre-War??

[david_l]

Originally Posted by ronniehatesjazz

It's like taking a brief step back in time before all the nonsense and confusion of the world we live in today came into effect.

I hear what you're saying and agree about loving the history and pre war cards. That said, I see this sentiment very frequently, often in hobbyist contexts, and I just don't get it. For example, when T206s came out we were living in a time of Jim Crow and mass lynchings. McKinley had been assassinated less than a decade previous and the scars of Wounded Knee were still prevelant. Woman were still about a decade from even being able to vote. In sports, the greatest athletes were barred from playing with each other and the reserve clause guaranteed that the owners were rich and the players would be sent home (perhaps to the mines or some other intense industrial job) if they held out for their fair share. There was no pension in baseball and many ex players struggled to provide for their families after their career ended (often via injuries). Union busting/violence was prevelant and politics were just as corrupt, if not more so than now.

Nostalgia is fine but in no way was there "less nonsense" than today (unless maybe your were an aristocrat with "pure" European blood).

Sorry, I don't mean to get on you but I see this sentiment way too frequently and it always makes me shake my head.